In To kill a mockingbird, things are not always as they seem

A detailed Summary of In To kill a mockingbird, things are not always as they seem

TOPIC: In the novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," things are not always as they seem. Discuss.

"Atticus, he was real nice." "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them." This is perhaps one of the strongest issues brought up in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The hundreds of pages in this novel come together to form an intricate web of incontestable evidence pointing towards the fact the humans come, see, and conquer. They do not look behind, or further to see the real thing, the real thing that they just destroyed to gain for themselves power and supremacy. Whether it be a person or an issue in society, people hear and believe what other people say, and do not investigate for themselves. In this essay I will endeavour to provide that incontestable evidence and further support Harper Lee's view on society.

Atticus is one of the main characters in the story. He is the father of Jem and Scout (Jean Louise), and the lawyer defending Thomas Robinson in the case. As a father, Jem and Scout don't feel that Atticus is good at anything except reasoning with people and making sense out of things. This is shown when Jem is extremely upset and angry with his father when he will not play football for the Methodists. Atticus' excuse

is that he is too old and that he would not survive a football match. Scout is also upset and questions Calpurnia about Atticus. Atticus will also not buy or allow Jem to have a gun, as he is aware of the temptations of young boys Jem's age. Their opinions of Atticus change when there is a rabid dog in their street. Heck Tate comes to inspect the dog and Atticus is with him. When Mr. Tate realise that he will not be able to shoot the dog from that distance, he requests Atticus to do it for him. Atticus takes the dog with one shot and Jem and Scout are astounded. "Miss Maudie grinned wickedly. "Well now, Miss Jean Louise, " she said, "Still think your father can't do anything? Still ashamed of him?" "Nome," I said meekly. "Forgot to tell you the other day that besides playing the Jew's Harp, Atticus Finch was the deadest shot in Maycomb County in his time." "Dead shot . . . " echoed Jem. "That's what I said, Jem Finch. Guess you'll change your tune now. The very idea, didn't you know his nickname was Ol' One-Shot when he was a boy? " (Lee, 1960. p.145). It is here that Jem and Scout realise that their father is actually good at things, and that he just chooses not to show them for various reasons. They come to the awareness that there is more to Atticus then they recognize and he is not the person that they at first thought he was. He is a strong, healthy man capable of various skills and they now see Atticus in a new light.

Mrs Dubose is another example of things not always being as they seem. To most of the neighbourhood children, Mrs Dubose is a cranky, irritable old lady who is constantly criticizing people and who also does not like children. This is the reason that Jem cut off every single camellia bush that Mrs Dubose owned. Because of this, Atticus made Jem go and read to her every afternoon and on Saturdays. Jem completes this task very unwillingly as each time he goes he must listen to her constant criticising. When she suddenly dies Atticus explains to Jem what she really was. "She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe ...son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her. - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her view, she dies beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew. '" (Lee, 1920, p. 165). Here Atticus shows Jem the real side of Mrs Dubose and Jem is shocked by the truth. He thought that Mrs Dubose was just a cranky old lady but in reality this was not so. She was actually a battling

Some common words found in the essay are:
Boo Radley's, Jem Scout, Saturdays Jem, Kill Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, Boo Scout, Jem Scouts, Maycomb County, Dolpheus Raymond, Radley Nearly, boo radley, lee 1960, jem scout, kill mockingbird, novel kill, novel kill mockingbird, dolpheus raymond, maycomb county, i'm beginning understand, boo scout, mayella ewell, incontestable evidence, arthur boo radley, father jem scout,

Approximate Word count = 1912
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels